Chương 15: Flea Market

Felix released his pressure on the warehouse owner's hand, though the man held his own for a moment longer before letting go.

"Excuse me," Felix said.

"What did you say?" He could hear the blood pounding in his ears. What are you getting me into, System? Again, the alien intelligence chose not to answer—something in the silence made it clear it was a choice, rather than merely being ignored.

"Oh, just my warehouse is a wonderful place for the most distinguished and discerning of customers." The intensity disappeared, and Al flashed a smile toward Kyra.

"Isn't that right?" The change did nothing to reassure Felix, and concern nagged at the back of his mind. The use of enlightenment had to be a deliberate signal, as was his refusal to address it. Kyra, however, did not seem to pick up on the tension and merely crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

"You just like me because I'm never here just to browse." Al grinned.

"I won't argue with your credits, ever, though you remind me of my own daughter. Well, all six of them, starving at home without the generosity of spacers such as yourselves patronizing my humble warehouse." The last he said to Felix, a glint in his eye.

"Oh, go away," Kyra waved a hand at him, though there was a slight tug at the corner of her mouth.

"Last month there were only three, and they all had space cancer." Turning to Felix, she pointed at the salesman.

"Like I said, don't let him get under your skin. Next week it'll be his grandmother, one foot in the grave."

"So cruel and heartless, and yet so hard to resist," Al replied, feigning indignance.

"Always a pleasure to have such a delightful songbird of mechanical prowess grace my shelves!"

"Compliments don't work on me, either, Al." Kyra waved to Felix.

"Let's see if we can't find something fun for those hardpoints, Captain. What are you thinking?" Felix thought for a moment.

"Well, we did lose a weapon to that Arrowhead, so a replacement there at least. Then I think maybe something to take the edge off if we take some hits." He rubbed the spot on his lower back, but it had stopped aching, and he remarked on it.

"When the Arrowhead hit, it really hurt, and I'd rather tone down the experience…" Felix realized the other two were staring at him.

"What?" Kyra and Al answered simultaneously.

"You felt that?"

"You took on an Arrowhead?"

"Five of them, actually," Felix said to Al, whose jaw immediately snapped shut, before he then turned to Kyra.

"I felt it go in, right here." He pointed at the spot on his back.

"Probably because of Second Skin."

"Captain…I've never…I don't think we should talk about your pilot abilities outside again... or the Arrowheads." She waved him to an aisle marked DEFENSIVE UPGRADES (PREMIERE BARGAINS*). Felix fell in behind her, pushing the flatbed cart, while Al sidled up beside him, quiet. The man seemed familiar, at least in behavior, though he couldn't quite put a finger on it—likely the holes in his memory yet again. At least Al's naked desire to separate Felix from his credits was honest and something he could appreciate.

"So, how's this work," he asked.

"What else can we upgrade?" Kyra flashed a smile back at him.

"We can upgrade almost anything, really. Engines, power cores, sensors, even add armor or improve life support. The ship is incredibly modular, thanks to the System." She paused at a crate before frowning and moving on.

"We're only limited by the ship tier and captain level. Magpie, for example, is a modest tier three, so can take anything from tiers one through three." Kyra pointed to a part that appeared to be made of six boxes haphazardly strapped to one another.

"That's a tier one shield booster, which for us would be horribly underpowered but for a starter ship and captain, would do well enough." Felix leaned in to examine the part. A winged insect, like a cross between a housefly cockroach, skittered into a gap in the casing.

"So, Magpie is stuck topped out at three?" Three more of the bugs glared at him from the crack, daring him to stick around. Kyra grimaced.

"Yes and no. Fresh out off the line, yes, but as the ship gains experience, it can be spent to tier it up." Her expression darkened.

"Heigel liked to push it into cargo capacity instead. Those upgrades started cheap."

"I see." Felix hadn't noticed anything about ship XP, and he checked his UI for the ship. The menu had expanded, and another bar had appeared. He briefly wondered why he'd never seen it before—perhaps it had been unlocked by whatever had been done to link him to the financial side of the ship accounts? [ICV 601 - MAGPIE SHIP XP: 84, 322] Below it, another menu waited filled with branches and option trees. The Cargo branch had indeed been filled out, demanding almost a million experience for the next level.

It had long since stopped being the cheapest, but the continued focus spoke to where the old captain's mind had been. Felix dismissed the menu before he ran into Kyra's back with the cart. It would take some time to really get familiar with all the options.

"Oh, that's a delightful little piece a salvager sold to me last week," Al exclaimed, lighting back up as Kyra leaned in next to a device about the size of a pair of refrigerators strapped together.

"A tier two light shield extender, almost no defects at all, barely even used! And for the low, low price of only one-hundred fifty thousand!" He trailed off as she stared at a system screen only she could see, frowning. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"That's…a lot more than I'm used to seeing…" Her eyes twitched, then widened as she turned to Felix.

"Wait, you've got an aura?"

"Excuse me?"

"Some area of effect Captain ability? I just checked my status and I'm getting some sort of 'Under Command' bonus." Felix nodded.

"Yes, when I bought the Captain abilities the other day, I picked up that one figuring it would help."

"Well it sure has…explains why that regulator went together so much easier yesterday…" She glared at Al.

"You know I've got Diagnostic Appraisal, right? With his bonus," she said, pointing at Felix, "I'm bumped up to level three." Al visibly swallowed as she continued.

"Every single capacitor on the left reserve bank is blown out, and the right bank isn't much better. It's seen more action than a New Vegas courtesan! This thing isn't hardly worth ten thousand." Felix couldn't hold back a laugh as the salesman squirmed. This was just the sort of entertainment he needed after the day he'd been having. Muscles he wasn't aware were tight began to relax, and he allowed his fiery engineer to take the lead in her obvious domain. Al held his hands up defensively, stuttering.

"Well, I might have embellished a little, but it's still a quality…" His mouth clamped shut as Kyra flipped an access cover open, revealing rows of scorched circuitry. Kyra didn't bother saying anything, instead just staring at him before slamming the cover closed. He winced.

"Gentle with the merchandise!"

"I'd say no one's ever been gentle with that." She walked down the line of shelves, glancing at each upgrade.

"Garbage…more trash…burned garbage…shit…" her descriptions grew more crude as she reached the end of the aisle, Al flinching with each word as if they were personal blows. Finally she whirled to him, livid.

"I can't believe you'd sell me this…. this…" Kyra waved her arms around.

"This!" Her chest was heaving as she panted, enraged.

"Just how much junk have you sold me before?" Al shrunk in on himself.

"Well, this is the premiere bargain aisle, just look at the note, some conditions may apply!" He pointed at the sign. This time, Felix noticed the asterisk, tied to a very small note at the bottom: *AS-IS, CONDITION UNCERTAIN. The font was so small, if one weren't paying attention it could easily be mistaken for a dotted line.

"Hardly fair way to lead a customer, isn't it?" Felix asked.

"Especially one you've said is so valuable and favored." He smiled grimly, and the salesman backed away.

"You picked the aisle," Al deflected.

"I knew a consummate professional such as Kyra wouldn't be taken in by anything less than top condition gear, and didn't want to interrupt you in case you did want a scratch and dent bargain!" It was Felix's turn to roll his eyes, and he put a hand on Kyra's shoulder to direct her toward the door.

"If the rest of the warehouse is anything like this, maybe there's a better place to go." Al darted in front of them and blocking their way, surprisingly fast for a beach ball.

"Now let's not be hasty. I've never sold you anything that outright didn't work entirely. If you just follow me, I can take you to the…" He leaned in closer, and the smarmy, salesman act disappeared for a moment.

"…reserve inventory for the most discerning of customers."

"And why didn't you offer that right when we showed up?" Kyra growled.

"I've been buying from you for how long and you've never mentioned a reserve inventory?" Al jerked his head toward a door, keeping his voice low.

"You've never told me the Magpie could handle five Arrowheads. Those are tier six fighters, not something the tier three freighter I thought you had could take."

"It is a tier three freighter," Kyra said. She shot Felix a look.

"And from now on, let's keep the whole Arrowhead part on the down-low, alright? We don't need it getting around."

"Ah! Discretion, too!" Al nodded.

"Then by all means, please browse to your heart's content!" He unlocked the door and held it open. The room inside was about a third of the size of the warehouse floor and filled with shelves similarly stacked with parts, though there was a marked reduction in soot and charring. Kyra stepped in, then gasped.

"Al, you've been holding out on me…" She ran up to one unit, labeled as a 'shield hardener' and placed a hand on the rounded casing.

"Oh…oh where have you been…" Then she looked up, pinning Al with a glare.

"Is this a setup?"

"Excuse me?" The man drew himself up straight.

"Are you suggesting I would be anything less than honest with this offer?" Her eyes narrowed, and he coughed into his hand.

"I mean, in here." He glanced over at Felix.

"Like I said, I've heard the rumors about the Magpie and her luck lately, and if you've got tier six problems, you need some tier six solutions."

"Well, tier six is a bit rich for our blood right now…four is too, for that matter. But I'd take this tier three advanced hardener right here," Kyra said as she stroked the module again. She leaned down and activated the pallet beneath the upgrade, which lifted it off the floor and allowed her to slide it onto the cart.

"Now we just need to find a good laser mount." Al's face brightened up again.

"Second row, lowest shelf!" He waddled after Kyra, who began to outright giggle as one item caught her attention. Felix looked into the aisle, and she grinned at him.

"A gatling laser, Felix! You've got to be in with Asiatica to get one of these, they just don't hand them out to anyone." She gave Al a curious look.

"It's brand new. Did it just fall off the back of a freighter somewhere?" The salesman grinned, straightening his jacket proudly.

"I have a friend or two everywhere, and a good businessman never gives away his sources." Kyra frowned.

"It's not stolen is it?"

"Absolutely not!" Al hesitated for a moment.

"I have never sold any stolen goods, to the best of my knowledge!"

"These aren't the sort of things you just find lying around, and you just don't offer them to anyone. What's the catch. Why now?" It was obvious Kyra's suspicions were running in overdrive. Her feelings were strong enough Al couldn't ignore them. He looked back at Felix uncomfortably and licked his lips.

"Like I said, a good businessman never gives away his sources, and you've been a good customer in the past. Call it an investment in future business." Felix leaned against the shelf.

"So, how much are we talking here?"

"It's nine hundred thousand for both." Al cringed as he delivered the price, expecting another explosion from Kyra. Instead, the engineer's shoulders slumped, and she let out a disappointed sigh.

"I knew it was too good to be true."

"Well, maybe we could negotiate," Felix suggested as he took a step toward Al, but froze partway as the world around him dimmed. [SKILL NOT FOUND: NEGOTIATION] [WARNING: SAFE MODE OVERRIDE] [ACCESSING USER MEMORY]